We booked the trip based on the itinerary and the cruise line. After reviewing the online reviews of the ship we did not have very high expectations but figured that more people complain than praise plus, what the heck! We traveled with our 24 year old son and our 78 and 82 year old moms. Our son was the youngest person on the ship including the staff. He did like the gym, the food and the water toys.
The rooms were much larger than we are accustomed to from other cruises and very well laid out with a good sized bathroom. We were in the dungeon yet it was still very nice and easy to find our way around. The bed was very comfortable and the toiletries were of good quality.
We did not avail ourselves of any of the excursions from the ship as they were all very expensive and we did not want to ride around with 50 of our closest friends en masse. We got our own rooms before and after the trip and hired our own transfers. The boat wanted $120 per person for the transfer from Rome to the port and I hired a very nice van for $180 EU. Same situation when we arrived in Venice. I hired a private water taxi which was virtually waiting for us upon arrival and the people going to the hotel through the boat waited 1 hour and 20 minutes.
large and comfortable
Getting to Civitavecchia from Rome was done privately. The port was fine and embarking was very quick. The bags arrived in our rooms almost as quickly as we did.
This was gorgeous. We had hired a boat to take us on a private tour around the island but the tide was up and the water was rough so we took one of the MANY excursion boats from the port for a ride. We then took the venicular(sp) to the top, had lunch, shopped and walked down. Great day.
we hired a taxi in the port and went to Taormina. Unfortunately, we spent too much time eating and not so much looking at all the shops. It was very cute.
probably one of the most beautiful ports we visited. It feels like you are in the Alps with the fjords as we came in. it was shrouded in fog so it was quite eerie and beautiful. we took a private tour. it was very nice that we were docked at the port and we had lots of time in town.
again, a private tour. the history of this city is amazing and it was, again, so beautiful. we all expected it to be dull and communist looking and it was certainly not that. we took a very long tour but it did not seem like that because it covered so much history.
it was pouring down rain for much of the day but we did a walk up tour (just show up) and learned an amazing amount of history.